A Russian cybercriminal group known as Cyber Army Russia Reborn has taken responsibility for a recent spate of cyberattacks on the websites of several government bodies and the public broadcaster.

In a video message on 29 March, the group implicitly acknowledged that the attacks were motivated by Slovenia's support for Ukraine.

In the message voiced over in Slovenian carried by several Slovenian news outlets, the group said that Russians and Slovenians "need not hate each other" given the shared heritages of both countries.

The same group had earlier announced it would start attacking Slovenia for joining a Czech initiative to supply ammunition to Ukraine.

The group used distributed denial of service attacks, a primitive form of cyberwarfare, against the websites of the president, several state institutions and RTV Slovenija.

No major damage has been reported so far, but earlier statements from the group indicated it would also target critical infrastructure.

Prime Minister Robert Golob said that cyberattacks had been on the increase of late. "It's not always the same country, but it is always one of the global superpowers."

The hackers have delivered a "specific message to Slovenian politicians" but Slovenia will "not concede to blackmail," he said.